France, Israel and Saudi Arabia confront an administration conducting a make-believe foreign policy. When the history of the Obama administration's foreign policy is written 20 or so years from now, the career of Wendy Sherman, our chief nuclear negotiator with Iran, will be instructive. In 1988, the former social worker ran the Washington office of the Dukakis campaign and worked at the Democratic National Committee. That was the year the Massachusetts governor carried 111 electoral votes to George H.W. Bush's 426. In the mid-1990s, Ms. Sherman was briefly the CEO of something called the Fannie Mae Foundation, supposedly a charity...

ANSWER's Steering CommitteeBy Ryan Anderson O’DonnellFrontPageMagazine.com | March 12, 2003 The group at the forefront of the recent anti-war rallies, International A.N.S.W.E.R (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) is in reality a front organization designed to further the radical agenda of several extremist movements from the political Left. Despite the media’s assertions to the contrary, present incarnation of the peace movement, led by ANSWER, is anything but representative of mainstream America. ANSWER’s steering committee reads like a "Who’s Who" of radical political organizations. The most influential member of ANSWER’s steering committee, Ramsey Clark’s pet project known as the...

Sometimes, you just need Texas. As the rest of the entertainment industry was being brought to its knees by the threat of more hacking and terrorism, a theater in Texas decided to both capitalize on this story and stand up for freedom of speech. The only bummer is they’re holding a free screening, as I’d hoped they’d rake in a bunch of cash for filling a gap in the market, which would be as appropriately American as the statement they’re making about our values. They should be rewarded, and they will be, at least with brand recognition and good will:...

One of the most common critiques of contemporary American society, and Western culture more broadly, is its purported enthrallment to the opiate of celebrity. The notion that ordinary Americans are so dumbfounded by popular entertainment that they can’t understand linear, logical thought, let alone come up with workable solutions to complex problems which require such understanding, is not new. The late Neil Postman wrote an entire book exploring the damage wrought by modern communication techniques-namely, television and advertising-to the process of information-gathering, and by extension, rational argument and inquiry. However, even Henry David Thoreau-who lived before radio had attenuated the...

One thing is certain: Axelrod didn't do the rest of us any favors . . . On today's Morning Joe, after Joe Scarborough empathized at length, in the context of the Syrian situation, about what a lonely job President Obama has, David Axelrod actually had the chutzpah to say "there have been many days where I wonder, gee, I wonder if all of us who helped him get elected did him a favor." View the video here.

The grandson of Kim Jong-il to study at Paris Institute of Political Studies By Lucile Quillet Posted on 17:40, 26/08/2013 Kim Han-sol, 18 year-old grand-son of North Korea's late dictator Kim Jong-il, will resume his study at Sciences Po Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies,) Havre campus, according to the l'Express. /end my excerpts

President Obama has said the outrage over the federal government’s decision to monitor citizens’ phone activity is all “hype.” He might want to share his opinion with the Air Force, which is ordering members of the service not to look at news stories about it. WND has received an unclassified NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) that warns airmen not to look at news stories related to the data-mining scandal. The notice applies to users of the Air Force NIPRNET (Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network), which is the only way that many troops stationed overseas and on bases in the U.S. are...

North Korean Diplomats 'Sell Millions of Dollars Worth of Drugs' North Korea sent a large amount of illegal drugs to its embassy in an East European country last December and ordered diplomats there to sell it for cash by early April, a diplomatic source here claims. "South Korean intelligence obtained the information from a North Korean agent who defected recently," the source said. "Similar orders were delivered to other North Korean embassies." North Korea has ordered each diplomat to raise US $300,000 to prove their loyalty and mark the birthday of nation founder Kim Il-sung on April 15. Each North...

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" and said his father and grandfather were "great leaders." Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him. At Pyongyang's Sunan airport on his way to Beijing, Rodman said it was "amazing" that the North Koreans were "so honest." He added that Kim Jong...

A North Korean army minister was executed with a mortar round for reportedly drinking and carousing during the official mourning period after Kim Jong-il's death. Kim Chol, vice minister of the army, was taken into custody earlier this year on the orders of Kim Jong-un, who assumed the leadership after the death of his father in December. On the orders of Kim Jong-un to leave "no trace of him behind, down to his hair," according to South Korean media, Kim Chol was forced to stand on a spot that had been zeroed in for a mortar round and "obliterated."

North Korean official is executed by MORTAR SHELL for drinking during 100-day mourning period for late 'Dear Leader' Kim Jong-il • Senior military official broke the rules of mourning Kim Jong-il • During the 100-day mourning period North Koreans were forced to abstain from pleasurable activities - including drinking A North Korean military officer has been executed with a mortar shell blast for disrespecting late 'Dear Leader' Kim Jong-il by drinking alcohol during the 100-day mourning period. South Korean media claim Kim Chol, the secretive state’s former vice minister of the army, was forced to stand on a spot that...

Sand sculptor Larry Hudson said it took a team of five people about 3 days to finish the sculpture, which shows the president with his arms crossed and smiling broadly. Hudson said the sculptors finished Saturday just before a large thunderstorm struck, requiring touch-ups.

A gunbattle broke out when the North Korean regime removed army chief Ri Yong-ho from office, leaving 20 to 30 dead. Some intelligence analysts believe Ri, who has not been seen since his abrupt sacking earlier this week, was injured or killed in the confrontation.

Harold Eberle: "Christianity Unshackled: Are You A Truth Seeker," Destiny Image Publishers, 2009 Stalin was responsible for about 20 million deaths and Mao Zedong's regime for approximately 70 million. Pol Pot, who led the Communist Party faction known as the Khmer Rouge, killed over 1.5 million of his own Cambodian people.6 Add to these numbers the atrocities committed by Soviet dictators like Lenin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev. Also add atheists like Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-il. All total, atheistic regimes have slaughtered more than 100 million people within the last 100 years. That averages to more than 1 million people per year....

/begin my excerpts Exclusive: Drinking during Kim’s Mourning Period... Vice Defense Minister Shot in Public A Deputy Chief of Staff also shot for a sexual misconduct Kim Jong-eun, Vice Chairman of Party’s Central Defense Commission, purged senior military figures in an attempt to establish discipline in military after Kim Jong-il’s death, according to sources on Mar. 20. They said, “Last January, Kim Jong-eun gave an order to ‘eliminate anybody who did outrageous things during General’s (Kim Jong-il’s) mourning period.’ We have intelligence that a Deputy Chief of General Staffs was arrested for committing a sexual misconduct during Kim’s mourning period...

(Reuters) - North Korea agreed on Wednesday to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches, and to allow checks by nuclear inspectors, in an apparent policy shift that paves the way for resuming long-stalled disarmament talks. The surprise breakthrough, announced simultaneously by the U.S. State Department and North Korea's official news agency, makes possible the resumption of six-nation nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang. It followed talks between U.S. and North Korean diplomats in Beijing last week. While analysts cautioned that Pyongyang has backtracked repeatedly on past deals, the moves by North Korea mark a sharp change in course, at...

Sacha Baron Cohen dumps fellow dictator Kim Jong-Il's 'ashes' over Ryan Seacrest By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper Sacha Baron Cohen not only was allowed to stride the red carpet in costume as Admiral General Aladeen, "The Dictator" from his upcoming movie, but he brought a fellow dictator along with him. Kind of. Clad in full dictator regalia, he was accompanied by two beautiful women in short-skirted "army" uniforms and red berets. And in his arms, he carried a cremation urn with an image of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. But those ashes didn't stay in the urn long. When Baron...

The Internet was abuzz with rumors today that North Korea’s newly installed leader, Kim Jong Un, was assassinated during a trip to Beijing, but U.S. officials are debunking the reports as not true. Several U.S. officials contacted by ABC News said there was no validity to the reports that originated on a Chinese social media site and soon spread to Twitter. “There’s nothing to this, ” said one U.S. official, who added that there were no indications that the reports were true. Another U.S. official said, “Our experts are monitoring the situation and we see no abnormal activity on the...

Neither Mission nor Prudence in Kim's Expression By Park Seong Guk [2012-02-09 11:12 ] Kim Jong Nam has revealed more about the rule of Kim Jong Eun and his view of the future of North Korea in previously unreleased e-mails between he and Tokyo Shimbun editor Yoji Komi . “In that young man’s expression I can see neither the mission nor the prudence of a man who has become the successor to a troubled country like North Korea, nor the expression of a man worrying about a future vision for the state,” Kim is quoted as saying in one of...

01-25-2012 09:56 Golf genius Kim is gone, but NK tournament remains Even the fairytale rise to implausible golfing kingship depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster "Happy Gilmore" doesn't come close to the storybook achievements of Kim Jong-il, the late North Korean leader who died last month. North Korean legend has it that, on his maiden round, the country's No. 1 man blew away even the earthly brilliance of golf greats Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as he carded, wait for it, 11 holes-in-one. Now, the scene of "Dear Leader" Kim's astonishing feat has been opened up to an entirely different field...

ï»¿ï»¿ Kim Jong-nam Says N.Korean Regime Won't Last Long Kim Jong-nam Former North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il's eldest son Jong-nam has said the isolated regime will eventually fail with or without reforms. The comment appears in e-mail conversations exchanged over seven years between Kim Jong-nam and a Japanese journalist and obtained by the Monthly Chosun. The nearly 100 e-mails were sent from 2004 until December last year to Yoji Komi, an editor at the Tokyo Shimbun daily. The two also spoke in person in January and May last year. â—† Oppostion to Dynastic Succession Kim Jong-nam, who was passed over...

Kim Jong-nam Resurfaces in Beijing Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's eldest son Kim Jong-nam has resurfaced in Beijing a month after his father's death. He was spotted by South Koreans including Park Seung-jun, a professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Incheon University, waiting at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport for an Air China flight to Macau on Saturday afternoon. Kim Jong-nam was wearing a padded navy blue jacket, jeans and a light-blue baseball cap. He was alone. Witnesses spotted Kim in the Air China business lounge searching the Internet on a computer. Asked if he had...

Harsh Punishments for Poor Mourning The North Korean authorities have completed the criticism sessions which began after the mourning period for Kim Jong Il and begun to punish those who transgressed during the highly orchestrated mourning events. Daily NK learned from a source from North Hamkyung Province on January 10th, “The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn't seem genuine.” Furthermore, the source added that people who are accused of circulating rumors criticizing...

Well, it is a slow news day, so we focus on the patently absurd, such as this news out of Interfax confirming that TheOnion can now close up shop as reality is far, far better. From Interfax: "North Korean citizens, who did not take part in the mourning ceremonies for the country’s late Leader Kim Jong-il, are facing up to six months in labor camps, Interfax reported January 11. According to the South Korean media sources, “People’s Courts” took place all over the country starting December 29 to condemn those who did not show enough emotion after the death...

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 Kim's eldest son dishes dirt in upcoming book Kyodo Kim Jong Nam, the late Kim Jong Il's eldest son, provides his own frank account of North Korea's "Dear Leader" in a book that will hit stores Jan. 20, including his reluctance to let any of his sons take power, an editor at publisher Bungei Shunju Co. said. The book by Yoji Gomi, a senior staff writer for the Tokyo Shimbun daily, is based on his extensive interviews with Kim Jong Nam and email exchanges between them, the editor said Friday. In an email in January after...

If you found yourself panicked that the highly acclaimed and inexplicably entertaining “Kim Jong Il Looking at Things” blog would become defunct after the Dear Leader’s recent death, fear no more. North Korea has a new leader, but more importantly, North Korea has a new person who likes to look at things. Although you can continue to enjoy images of the Dear Leader posted posthumously on the original blog, the site dedicated to his successor proves quite promising. Recent entries feature new images which, according to the Daily Mail, were taken during a tour of a military camp and released...

Did you know that North Korea has its own website? Interestingly enough, it's not hosted in North Korea and it's not even registered to anyone there. It’s hosted in Spain and registered to some Spanish dude named Jesus Pinazo. From the front page of the website (http://www.korea-dpr.com), I clicked through to a link memorializing the 'Great Leader'. While condolences came in from such likely places as the Swiss Juche Idea Study Group, the Polish Youth Communism Organization, and New Dawn Magazine in Australia, there were also a number of individuals (including some Americans) who expressed their sadness at the passing...

No Hats, No Scarves, No Gloves! By Lee Seok Young [2012-01-03 10:23 ] Daily NK has received information confirming the level of stage management that went into the memorial service for Kim Jong Il on December 28th in Pyongyang. A source from the city told Daily NK on January 2nd, “The day before the event sending off comrade Kim Jong Il, heads of people’s units told us that ‘comrade Kim Jong Eun will also be escorting the General’s hearse bare-handed’ and conveyed a list of important instructions.” According to the source, the authorities were intending to make sure that mourners...

North Korea’s ‘Mourners’: Dehumanized By Communism Posted 12/28/2011 07:03 PM ET Totalitarianism: The world witnessed a grotesque spectacle Tuesday as millions of North Koreans mourned the death of the world's most odious dictator. It's a classic demonstration of the dehumanization of communism. In the free world, tears would never be shed for a monster like Kim Jong Il, the megalomaniac who ruled North Korea with an iron fist for 17 years, leaving a legacy of man-made famine, a network of Gulag prison camps for free thinkers, and bone-grinding poverty for workers unlike any other place on earth. But in a...

Kim Jong-il's Death Is a Blessing Kim Jong-il's death may be seen as having increased uncertainties in North Korea, but I think the exact opposite is true. The uncertainties in the North have stemmed primarily from Kim's self-obsession and obstinacy. North Korea's elite all seem to view reforms as the only way for the country to survive, but Kim executed anyone who dared to say so. Strained ties with South Korea are also due to the idiotic choices Kim made without going through a rational process of discussion and decision-making. As a result, his death has eliminated a measure of...

Police to probe Czech communist party leaderÂ’s condolences to North Korea 28-12-2011 16:11 | Jan Richter The Czech police will investigate whether the Czech communist party leader broke the law when he sent condolences on the death of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. In his letter, Czech communist party chair VojtÄ›ch Filip said, among other things, that the late North Korean dictator sacrificed himself for the well-being of his people. Thousands of people lined the streets of the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Wednesday to salute their late leader Kim Jong-Il who passed away earlier this month. It was...

North Korea said Sunday in its annual New Year's message that it will stage an all-out drive toward prosperity, with its army, ruling party and people ready to defend Kim Jong Il's young son and successor "unto death." The North's message, released by the official Korean Central News Agency, comes as the country enters a new era, with Kim Jong Un firmly installed as Supreme Commander of the military and ruling party leader following his father's Dec. 17 death. This year also marks a crucial one in the North's history as it works on its goal to build a "great...

N. Korea to issue gold, silver coins in honor of late leader 2011-12-31 10:37 North Korea said Saturday it will issue gold and silver coins to mark the 20th anniversary of late leader Kim Jong-il's ascension to the supreme commander of the communist nation's armed forces. Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency made the announcement minutes after Kim's successor son, Jong-un, took over the supreme commandership in a strong sign that the young son, believed to be in his late 20s, is rapidly solidifying power. The commandership is one of the titles that the late leader held before his death on...

Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and supreme leader of the party, state and army, Tuesday visited again the bier of leader Kim Jong Il and expressed profound condolences. Overcome with the bitterest grief, Kim Jong Un, together with senior officials of the party, state and armed forces organs, paid silent tribute to his bier, praying for his immortality, and looked round it. Standing vigil by the side of the bier, Kim Jong Un greeted people of different social standings including representatives of various provinces visiting there to express condolences over...

Kim Jong-Il was born Yuri Irsenovich Kim. His official biography states that he was born on a sacred mountain (Baekdu Mountain, the legendary birthplace of Korea’s first kingdom) on February 16, 1942, where his father was serving in a secret military base, attempting to overthrow the Japanese. Further, it states that his birth was marked by a double rainbow over the mountain, a new star appearing in the sky, and, before his birth, a swallow foretold his coming. Besides the obvious parts of this that aren’t true, he also was not born on Baekdu Mountain in 1942, but rather was...

Towering hypocrisy right to the end... A number of news reports coming out of North Korea today purport the American-looking cars at the head of the Kim Jong Il funeral procession to be 'Russian limos'... but the first point of note would be that such cars were only manufactured in the Soviet era: the GAZ Chaika has been out of production for decades, and ZiL only recently made/restored a single old-style limousine to custom Kremlin order- an open parade-car looking nothing like the car above. And as one personally familiar with all these designs (have touched and sat in every type...

Link is to Japanese from original South Korean source. First, and turning prematurely green, an obligatory picture of assailant (patent liar of the evening Korean Central TV out of Pyongyang for many years), tasked with emotionally reporting specifically on Kim Jong il, missile launches, underground nuke tests, heightened military alerts and the like, and now -- conceivably, on issues relating to Kim Jong Un. Secondly, her recent five-star performance wearing black mourning Korean "hanbok", telling the world that the Beloved Dear Chia Pet was no longer with us--a real tear jerker /sarc.

Report: Eldest son of Kim Jong Il in China Published: Dec. 27, 2011 at 8:21 AM PYONGYANG, North Korea, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- China is giving protection to the eldest son of North Korea's departed leader Kim Jong Il, a source told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. Kim Jong Nam reached China recently as North Korean authorities prepared for Wednesday's state funeral of his father, who died Dec. 17, the report said. Kim Jong Nam arrived in Beijing from the Macau and was "been placed under the Chinese protection," the source, described as being familiar with the son's activities, told...

N.Korea Says Kim Jong-il Was Alive Until the Night of Dec. 16 Kim Jong-il was alive signing official documents until the night of Friday, Dec. 16, North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun daily claimed Sunday. "At the late hour of 9:13 p.m., one worker received a document signed by the general." The daily added Kim foresaw problems in the distribution of herring and pollack to Pyongyang residents to celebrate the New Year and signed the document to ease obstacles. It is unusual for the official media to go into such detail, suggesting that the paper was indirectly trying to counter suspicions...

Purges 'Ensure Kim Jong-un's Succession' A series of executions and unexplained deaths since North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un was anointed heir to the throne in January 2009 were apparently meant to remove obstacles to the transition. Kim senior instituted several bloody purges to ensure his iron grip on power since he officially took over from his own father in 1994. The most prominent example is perhaps the death of Ri Je-gang, a former senior deputy director of the Organization and Guidance Department and a close aide to Kim Jong-il who oversaw key military appointments for more than two...

Russian team of embalmers headed for Pyongyang. Chia Head must be embalmed as well. From Russian NTV: (google translation) Soon the world will be on a "restless dead" is more - for Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung and Mao joins Kim Jong Il. In the capital, Pyongyang, DPRK flew a group of Russian scientists from the Institute of embalmers Mausoleum. Very soon, the list of the "immortals" - Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung and Mao Zedong, add another: the deceased North Korean leader Jong-il Keach prepared to keep forever. At the head of the Russian delegation...

Joyful toasts and bitter memories: North Korean defectors grapple with death of Kim Jong Il By Associated Press, Published: December 25 SEOUL, South Korea — More than 21,000 North Koreans now live in South Korea. For many, the news of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death stirred mixed emotions. Several interviewed in Seoul by The Associated Press described a burst of joy upon hearing that Kim had died, but also a surge of unease over the fate of relatives and friends and even a shadow of homesickness. There was celebration — one man had drinks with a friend— and...

2011/12/26 14:50 KST N. Korean businessmen asking Chinese traders to offer condolences over Kim's death DANDONG, China, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean businessmen in China are asking their local business partners to offer condolences over the death of Kim Jong-il, apparently under pressure from their government back home, Chinese traders said Monday. Kim, who ruled North Korea with an iron fist for 17 years, died of heart failure on Dec. 17, according to the North's state media. Since the announcement two days later, the country has set up condolence venues at its embassy in Beijing, its consular offices in...

UN tribute to Kim leads to walkout of diplomats Dec 24,2011 The UN General Assembly yesterday paid a silent tribute to the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, sparking a walkout of ambassadors of Korea and other countries. At the start of the assembly Thursday, its president, Qatar’s Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, told the diplomats, “It is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Kim Jong-il.” The president asked North Korean Ambassador Sin Son-ho to “convey condolences” and called on all envoys “to stand and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of...

Mourners weep at escalator used by Kim Jong-il 20/12 12:23 CET North Korean state media has released a still photograph of what is believed to have been Kim Jong-il’s last public appearance before he died. He is seen on a supermarket escalator, with his son and future successor Kim Jong-un among those behind him. Today the escalator they travelled down has been turned into a shrine. “I can’t imagine how happy it would make us and our fellow citizens if he could ride on this escalator again,” said one woman, amid a group of mourners, weeping around the moving staircase....

/being my excerpts Kim Jong-il - Indication of Deteriorating Health Emerged Since Sept. Sources from Dandong, “Many reputable foreign doctors went to Pyongyang in Sept.” Since last September, three months before N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death, there were indications that his health was deteriorating. According to what sources on N. Korea in Dandong, China, said on Dec. 23, many reputable foreign doctors from Hungary, France, and China went to Pyongyang via China. One source said, “Those doctors were all heart specialists. It is my understanding that they went there in a hurry at N. Korea's request.” Another source said,...

Kim Jong-il 'Collapsed Last Thursday' North Korean leader Kim Jong-il collapsed on Dec. 15, two days before North Korea says he died, according to intelligence the South Korean government has received from Japan. The collapse was grave enough for top North Korean officials to convene an emergency meeting, though whether he died then or later is not known. Seoul apparently received the information from Japan after his death was announced at noon on Monday. A source on Thursday said a Japanese official attended an international seminar in Pyongyang hosted by North Korea's Asia Pacific Peace Committee, and on the morning...